BRIEFLY IN RELIGION

Church has new pastor

Neighborhood Congregational Church will welcome a new senior pastor, the Rev. Brian J. (“BJ”) Beu, at the 10 a.m. Nov. 9 service.

Before his arrival in Laguna Beach, Beu was pastor of Fox Island United Church of Christ in Gig Harbor, Wash., for 13 years.

Beu is a graduate of Boston University School of Theology and Pacific Lutheran University.

He has studied with Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, and spent a year at St. Mary’s College at the university of St. Andrew in Scotland.

He has published sermons in The Abingdon Preaching Annual, and along with his wife, Mary Scifres, an ordained Methodist minister, is co-editor of The Abingdon Worship Annual.

The Beus have one son, Michael, who, along with his dad, is an actor and musician.